David Sadler column

SIR Alex Ferguson will be counting the scars - both physical and mental - as his troops trudge back from foreign fields and prepare to resume hostilities in the Premier League. And the man he will turn to for his front-line assault at Bolton is likely to be Louis Saha, a man who the manager was talking up as his new Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, a super sub par excellence, just a couple of weeks ago.

SIR Alex Ferguson will be counting the scars - both physical and mental - as his troops trudge back from foreign fields and prepare to resume hostilities in the Premier League.

And the man he will turn to for his front-line assault at Bolton is likely to be Louis Saha, a man who the manager was talking up as his new Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, a super sub par excellence, just a couple of weeks ago.

No sooner were those words out of his mouth than Wayne Rooney picked up an injury, and the picture changed entirely. Saha has gone from a player who could be used as an "impact" player coming off the bench, to the man likely to lead the line at the Reebok.

United fans will have to pray that Saha's terrible injury record does not come back to haunt him, as he was clearly intending to use him in short spells.

You have to be perturbed when you hear of Carlos Tevez saying he is "exhausted" after playing in the Buenos Aires sun and then being sent off in Colombia - and that was even before his long-haul flight back to Manchester.

With a third of the season gone, those are not the kind of words you want to hear, especially when Rooney is still some time away from fitness.

Anyone who has travelled will know how much that South American trip will have taken out of Tevez, and there must be some doubt whether he will be fit to play at the Reebok.

Some United fans might see an away game at Bolton as a gimme just days after an international break, as the local rivals have been struggling and we have a good record on the ground in recent seasons.

But Gary Megson won't be viewing it like that. He is a new manager, and he will see this game as a real chance to bolster his side's confidence - a result from this one would set them up nicely for the remainder of the season.